At-Home Job Helps Worker Juggle a Busy Family Schedule

Feel like you're being pulled in a million different directions? Find out how Christina found an at-home job that helped her juggle a busy family schedule. Save

We’ve all experienced crazy days when you feel like you’re being pulled in a million different directions. Family, career, housework, keeping fit, and staying on task—it can be too much. As the subject of this week’s FlexJobs success story told us, remote work has helped her juggle a busy family schedule.

Working from home helped FlexJobs member Christina M. transition from a traditional job to a meaningful home-based career—and that has helped her improver her work-life balance significantly. Christina, who’s from San Antonio, Texas, was hired as a full-time, remote compensation delivery analyst for Alight Solutions, an information technology and services company.

Christina provided us with great answers to a series of questions FlexJobs asks members as part of our focus on job search success stories. Her insights offer great tips and inspiration to other job seekers looking for remote jobs or other work flexibility.

Here’s more about how Christina’s remote job helps her juggle a busy family schedule:

A Previous “No” Opens the Door to Flexibility

For Christina, a lot of factors came into play in her decision to find a remote job—including a previous employer being resistant to remote work. “My daughter was transitioning from daycare to kindergarten, I didn’t want to pay for after-school care, and my husband wanted to finish school full-time,” Christina wrote.

With all those issue going on, she approached her former boss about the possibility of telecommuting. “I asked about working remotely and my previous employer wasn’t open to the option,” Christina told us.

Flexibility Eases the Demands of Family Life

Christina offered three areas where her remote job has made a big difference in her life:

“First and foremost, the flexibility has put my mind at ease, knowing I can provide for my family and also be here to share a snack and then start homework with my daughter. My mother was a housewife because my father’s job allowed her to be home. And now I can provide the same type of schedule and flow that I was allowed as a child. I’m also able to take her to extracurriculars early (for example, be somewhere at 4:00 p.m.). I’m also able to make appointments like [a haircut] in the middle of the day when it’s less crowded. Flexing my time has been a god-send!

“Second, I’ve been able to work fitness into my schedule, something I wasn’t as able to do before. I can workout when my schedule allows, and during the day. I’m able to get into workout clothes and walk/pace during conference calls, another thing I wasn’t able to do in my previous job.

“Third, it is easier for me to perform more household duties, like starting dinner, throw in a load of laundry, wash a few dishes, etc. because I’m here. If I have a break in my schedule, I can do something really quick. With a family that has a crazy schedule, this has done wonders for my sanity!”

Done with Working in a Traditional Office

Now that she’s working flexibly from home, Christina has no desire to turn back. “I honestly don’t think I could ever work in an office again,” she wrote, adding, “There are some things I do miss, like the face-to-face with my coworkers, team outings/potlucks, because I am a people person.”

But the trade-off is worth it, Christina said. “Over all, [working from home] fits with my current lifestyle and it’s something both my family and I need,” she told us. “The virtual, remote worker life is completely for me, and I wouldn’t consider another employer if it wasn’t an option.”

Tips and Inspiration for Other Job Seekers

Christina told us she was pleased with her investment in a FlexJobs membership. “I found the membership valuable,” she wrote. “I was able to see what employers offered remote jobs and based on those employers, try to target a few.”

She had good insight about what job search strategies she found most useful. “Research ideal companies,” she said, adding that “networking is one of your most powerful tools. Knowing someone really helps. If it wasn’t for warm contact I had on the inside of a company I wanted into, I may not have had the opportunity at the remote job I applied for.”